British prime minister David Cameron. When it comes to tax, there should be no secrets, according to these letter writers.
Photograph: Pool/Reuters

Vicky Ranson of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs wants access to the Guardian’s Panama data (UK tax officials seek access to huge leak of Mossack Fonseca papers, theguardian.com, 4 April) because HMRC is “relentlessly pursuing tax evasion by UK citizens and residents” and wants “to ensure that tax cheats have no safe havens in which to hide undeclared income”. I’m puzzled. Page 223 of the latest Office for Budget Responsibility report, published in March, says: “HMRC is also now less optimistic about how much of the lost yield can be recouped through additional compliance activity, on the basis that they are unlikely to be able to work the higher number of additional cases on top of existing workloads.” They can’t manage their existing workload of tax dodgers. Why, apart from a cheap publicity stunt, are they pretending to be interested in Panama?Philip CunninghamLondon

• As we are constantly being told that there is nothing illegal about these offshore tax arrangements, surely the simple solution would be for a law for all UK residents, including non-doms, to reveal all the details of such schemes to HMRC. This would be irrespective of how secretive the tax haven itself allows. Then the failure to do so could be made a serious offence. This has the merit that it does not need international agreements to be enacted. This would allow the legal ones to continue, and the dubious ones to be scrutinised. After all, we are always being told that if it is legal, we have nothing to fear.Mackenzie BrownLondon

• By the end of March 2015, local authorities had collected £24.1bn of council tax that related to 2014-15 and achieved an average in-year collection rate of 97.0%. They had collected £570m in council tax arrears. £191 was non-collectable council tax. The tax is enforced with court costs added and the bailiffs calling in 3.5m cases. Since April 2013, jobseeker’s allowance of £73.10 a week has been taxed by local authorities. No chance of escaping to Mossack Fonseca. The taxes of the 99% are enforced so the 1% can afford to educate their children at Eton.Rev Paul NicolsonTaxpayers Against Poverty